China Envoy Discusses ‘Situation of the Korean Peninsula’ With North

Song Tao, left, a special envoy from China, met on Friday with North Korean officials in Pyongyang.Credit
Kyodo News, via Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — A special envoy from President Xi Jinping of China discussed regional and mutual concerns with senior North Korean officials in Pyongyang on Saturday, the North’s state media said.

The trip by the special envoy, Song Tao, to the North Korean capital came as the Trump administration pressed Mr. Xi to help restrain North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs by exerting China’s economic leverage over its impoverished neighbor.

“The two sides exchanged their views on such matters of mutual concern as the situation of the Korean Peninsula and region and bilateral relations,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said, without offering further details on Mr. Song’s discussions with Ri Su-yong, a top North Korean foreign relations official.

During his visit, Mr. Song was widely expected to try to ease the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Continue reading the main story

Relations between the two neighboring communist countries have shown signs of fraying in recent years as North Korea stepped up its missile and nuclear tests, and China supported American-led efforts to impose increasingly tougher sanctions against the North.

President Trump met with Mr. Xi in Beijing last week and called on China to do more to rein in its neighbor. He later expressed his expectation for the sending of the Chinese envoy by tweeting: “A big move, we’ll see what happens!”